THEY say a good pre-season is the foundation for success in football. If that’s the case, Liverpool Ladies should be perfectly set.

Robbie Johnson’s side will take to the field against local rivals Everton at Skelmersdale tonight, as the inaugural FA Women’s Super League launches in style.

And whilst their male counterparts will often point to fatigue as a reason for poor form around this time of year, for Johnson’s girls there can be no such excuses.

“Our last league game was against Aston Villa on May 16 of last year,” said Johnson, “So we have had one hell of a pre-season to prepare for this game!

“But rustiness will not be an issue. When we knew that the WSL was to start, back in March of last year, we planned for a four-phase program, which started on July 1 of last year, and finishes at the end of September this year.

“We are currently in phase three, but that is the key stage for us because it is when the league starts.”

Johnson’s side have bounced back impressively since relegation from the Women’s Premier League back in 2009. They lost just one game in storming to the Northern League title last season and have already booked their place in the last four of this season’s FA Cup, with convincing wins over Charlton and Bristol.

Confidence within the camp is high and sights have already been set on causing an upset against their local rivals, the current cup holders.

“If we are not ready now, we will never be!” said club captain Vicky Jones. “It has been the longest pre-season ever!

“But the girls are really confident. We have been doing a lot of training and preparation, and the girls just want to get cracking. We genuinely can’t wait for the kick-off.

“We have had two cup games and we have done really well to reach the semi-final, but now we are focusing on Everton, which is a massive game for us and for the league itself.”

Defender Caroline Charlton agrees with that assessment.

“It is the biggest start we could have hoped for,” she said. “The wait has added to the expectation, definitely. We have waited nearly a season for it to start, so everyone is waiting to go and is expecting a lot – especially with our recent wins in the FA Cup.”

The launch of the £3million WSL is seen by many as the biggest step the women’s game has taken yet. With five live games to be screened by ESPN, as well as a weekly highlights package, interest in the league is set to soar.

And at a time when the women’s game has both the World Cup (to be held in Germany in June) and next summer’s Olympic Games, Johnson says the publicity is a welcome boost.

“The media have managed to raise the profile of the league, in terms of interest at least,” he said. “What we have got to do now is to make sure there is quality on the pitch and hopefully then we will be able to keep people’s interest and attract even more followers.

“With all the media profile surrounding the World Cup and with the England team being particularly strong right now, it should be a really good summer. We are hoping there will be some fallout from that in the second half of our season, where we generate some interest before the World Cup, and then the coverage of the tournament itself, on an international stage, helps attract even more followers to the WSL for the final part of the season.”

For the players, the idea of an increase in profile and coverage is equally advantageous.

“It is a massive two years for women’s football in general,” said Jones. “This summer we have the launch of the WSL and the Women’s World Cup in Germany, and then next summer we have the Olympic Games, where we are looking to enter a Great Britain team. So it is a huge couple of years for the game, and I think we are going in the right direction. This is a big first step for the game.”

And their first step could not come much bigger. Mo Marley’s Everton, a side packed full of international players, who won the FA Cup last May, will provide a stern test of the top flight’s newest side.

Accordingly, the Liverpool players are expecting an intense encounter at the Skelmersdale & Ormskirk College Stadium this evening (kick-off 7.45pm).

“I have played against Everton a few times,” says Jones, “Unfortunately, they have always come out on top in the past, but hopefully fortunes will change this time and we will be on the winning side tonight.

“The games against Everton are a lot more intense. I think it is the same as the men’s game in that respect.

“In any sport, playing against your rivals brings that extra bit of intensity and entertainment. The rivalry is great.”

“It is really exciting just to get going,” agrees defender Sam Chappell. “And with it being Everton as well, it is the perfect game to start with.

“We had a couple of derbies when we were in the Premier League a few years back, and we have had County Cup games too, but nothing like this level.

“The rivalry is bigger now than it has been. Obviously, people have invested a lot of money into the league, and everyone is looking to start in the best possible way.”

And for Johnson, that can only mean one thing: Victory.

“People who know me know that I aim to win any competition I enter – and that includes tiddlywinks against the kids at home!” he said. “But all we can affect is ourselves, and all we can do is apply ourselves as best we can from game to game. I know it sounds cliched, but that is all we can do.

“Where we end up at the end of the season will be determined by the points we pick up, and the work we put in. But we will be going to win tonight.”